Germany (Springtime of Nations)

German Federation
Deutscher Bund
Timeline: Springtime of Nations
OTL equivalent: Majority of Germany and Austria, western Poland, northern Namibia, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Samoa, Northern Papua New Guinea, and the majority of Micronesia
German Federation; Deutscher BundTimeline: Springtime of Nations ; OTL equivalent: Majority of Germany and Austria, western Poland, northern Namibia, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Samoa, Northern Papua New Guinea, and the majority of Micronesia
Flag	Coat of arms
	Motto: ; One nation united Eine Nation vereint
	Location of Germany (green)
	Map of all of the constituent countries shown, with EEZ
Capital	Berlin
Official languages	German, Sorbian, Frisian, and Slovene
Demonym(s)	German
Government	Federal semi-presidential republic
Legislature	Bundestag
Area
Population
GDP (PPP)	2022 estimate
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
Gini (2020)	56.2
HDI (2021)	0.939
Currency	Deutsche Mark (EUR)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
Drives on the	Right
Internet TLD	.de
Calling code	+49

Germany, officially the German Federation, is a country in Central Europe. It is the third-most populous country in Europe after the Soviet Union, and France, and the second-most populous member state of the Strasbourg Pact. Germany is situated between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. Its 7 constituent states are bordered by Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, Liechtenstein and Switzerland to the south, and France and the Netherlands to the west.

Outside Europe it also contains the islands of Mafia, Marshall Islands, the Mariana Islands, Nauru, the Caroline Islands, and Samoa. It also includes Namibia, Kaiser-Wilhelmsland and Tsingtao, with each of them being their own constituent states. Germany covers an area of 1,042,018 km² (402,325 sq mi), making it Europe's 3rd-largest country and the world's 20th-largest country. With 91 million inhabitants, it is the third-most populous country in Europe, and the 16th-most populous country in the world. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its main financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr.

Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before AD 100. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. Following the Napoleonic Wars and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the German Confederation was formed in 1815.

Formal unification of Germany into the modern nation-state was commenced on 4 April 1849, after Frederick Willliam IV accepted the crown of German emperor. After World War I, Germany would become a superpower, becoming the most powerful nation in the early 20th century, but it would collapse after a Civil War in 1940, during the Second World War, leading to the royal family moving to Willhemsville, while mainland Germany was divided into seven new states, Brandenburg, Saxony, Bavaria, Austria, Hanover, Hessen and Rhine , which would later unite to the New German Reich in 1989, and establishing the modern federation in 1994.

Germany has been described as a great power with a strong economy; it has the third-largest economy in Europe, the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the sixth-largest by PPP. As a global power in industrial, scientific and technological sectors, it is both the world's third-largest exporter and importer. As a developed country it offers social security, a universal health care system and a tuition-free university education. Germany is a member of the United Nations, the Strasbourg Pact, PATO, and the League of Germanic Nations.

History[]

Germanic tribes and the Frankish Empire[]

Germanic peoples, originating from the Nordic Bronze Age, early Iron Age, or Jastorf culture, expanded across Scandinavia and northern Germany. Under Augustus, the Roman Empire invaded their lands, creating a short-lived Roman province of Germania. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest dissuaded the Romans from conquering Germania, and by 100 AD, Germanic tribes had settled along the Rhine and Danube, occupying most of modern Germany. Around 260, Germanic tribes broke into Roman-controlled lands, and after the Huns invasion in 375, they moved southwest, subjugating Saxony and Bavaria, and occupying areas of eastern Germany.

East Francia and the Holy Roman Empire[]

The Carolingian Empire, founded by Charlemagne in 800, was divided in 843 and later the Holy Roman Empire. The Ottonian rulers consolidated major duchies, and Gregory V became the first German Pope. German princes encouraged settlement, but population declined. The Golden Bull provided the constitutional structure and election of the emperor. The Peace of Westphalia ended religious warfare, and the House of Habsburg held the imperial crown until Charles VI's death in 1740. Dualism between Austria and Prussia dominated German history, with the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars causing dynastic territories and secularization of ecclesiastical territories.

German Confederation and Empire[]

World Wars, and the rise of Fascism[]

Fragmented Germany[]

Reunified Germany and the European Union[]

Even though the German language and the feeling of "Germanhood" go back many centuries, the nation that we now know as Germany was only formed in 1849, when the German Empire after William Frederick IV of Prussia accepted the crown, and established the empire.

Germany quickly became one of the major powers in Europe, annexing Austria, and establishing colonies in Africa and Oceania. Its population, military, economy, and navy grew, and by 1900, it had the second highest population in Europe, the second largest military (both behind Russia), the second largest economy in the World, and the third biggest navy in Europe. It would join the First World War, on the side of the Quadruple Powers, allying with Russia, Romania and the US, winning the war it became the world's only superpower.

Anger over the Versailles Treaty and economic trouble allowed for François de La Rocque's Croix de Feu party to rise in France. And by 1938, it invaded Germany beginning the Second World War, after the capture of Berlin, the Royal Family fled to Cape Town, establishing the German government in-exile. While in mainland Germany, it was divided into seven states, and many territories were lost.

Adolf Hitler, a little known politician, artist, philosopher at the time became head of Brandenburg, the main state of the seven, beginning an era of terror and mass murder, starting in 1948, and ending in 1963, over 1 million people, mostly Jews would die, over 5% of the countries population.

In 1989, all seven states would be united into the New German Reich, and by 1994, the modern constitution and state would be formed.

Politics[]

After the 1994 constitution was placed into effect Germany, making it into a federal semi-presidential republic, it has been governed as such:

The president, currently Joachim Gauck, is the head of state and invested primarily with representative responsibilities and powers. He is elected by the Bundesversammlung (federal convention), an institution consisting of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates. The second-highest official in the German order of precedence is the Bundestagspräsident (President of the Bundestag), who is elected by the Bundestag and responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body. The third-highest official and the head of government is the chancellor, who is appointed by the Bundespräsident after being elected by the party or coalition with the most seats in the Bundestag. The Chancellor, currently Martin Schulz, is the head of government and exercises executive power through his Cabinet.

States[]

Germany is divided into thirteen Zustände (singular Zustand), or States, and one city state. With seven being in Mainland Germany, and the rest in Overseas Germany. The biggest Zustand is Namibia, at 385,542 km² (148,858 sq mi), while the most populated state is Brandenburg. The smallest and least populated Zustand being Nauru, at just 21 km² (8.1 sq mi), and having a population of just 21 Thousand people.

Mainland Germany		Map of the States
1	Austria
2	Bavaria
3	Berlin (city-state)
4	Brandenburg
5	Hanover
6	Hesse
7	Rhine
8	Saxony

Overseas Germany		Map of the States
1	Mafia Island
2	Mariana Islands
3	Marshall Islands
4	Namibia
5	Nauru
6	Kaiser-Wilhelmsland
7	Tsingtao
8	Samoa

Economy[]

Germany possesses the world's third most technologically powerful economy after the US and Japan, but its basic capitalistic economy has started to struggle under the burden of generous social benefits. Structural rigidities - like a high rate of social contributions on wages - have made unemployment a long-term, not just cyclical, problem, while Germany's aging population has pushed social security outlays to exceed contributions from workers. The integration and upgrading of the eastern German economy remains a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from the west amounting to roughly $100 billion. The recent adoption of a common European currency and the general political and economic integration of Europe are thought to bring major changes to the German economy in the early 21st century.

Demographics[]

The population of Germany is primarily German. There are more than 9 million foreign residents, including those granted political asylum, guest workers, and their dependents. Germany is a prime destination for political and economic refugees from many developing countries. A small ethnic Slavic a small Slavic minority known as the Sorbs lives in Saxony. Immigration has also created a sizeable Turkish minority, and other smaller minorities such as those of Croats, Italians, Russians and Poles.

Protestants (50%) and Catholics (42%) represent the major religions in Germany. There is also a noticeable Islamic minority of 1.7%, while the rest (6.3%) is either unaffiliated or belongs to smaller religious minorities.

Germany has one of the world's highest levels of education, technological development, and economic productivity. Since the end of World War II, the number of youths entering universities has more than tripled, and the trade and technical schools of Germany are among the world's best. With a per capita income level of about $52,000, Germany is a broadly middle class society. A generous social welfare system provides for universal medical care, unemployment compensation, and other social needs. Germans also are mobile; millions travel abroad each year.

Languages[]

German is the official and predominant spoken language in Germany. It is one of 24 official and working languages of the Strasbourg Pact, and one of the three procedural languages of the European Commission. German is the second most widely spoken first language in the Strasbourg Pact, with around 100 million native speakers.

Recognised native minority languages in Germany are Low German, Low Rhenish, Sorbian, Romani, North Frisian, Slovakian, Polish and Saterland Frisian; they are officially protected by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The most used immigrant languages are Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Polish, Greek, Serbo-Croatian, Bulgarian and other Balkan languages, as well as Russian.

Sports[]

Football is the most popular sport in Germany. With more than 9 million official members, the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund) is the largest single-sport organization worldwide, and the German top league, the Bundesliga, attracts the second-highest average attendance of all professional sports leagues in the world. The German men's national football team won the FIFA World Cup in 1999, and 2015, while the Brandenburg and Saxony national football team won in 1975, and 1983 respectively, the UEFA European Championship in 1973, 1978 and 1998.